Decorative sheet material and method of using the same



Aug- 25, 1942 J. M. w. CHAMBERLAIN 2,293,887

DECORATIVE SHEET MATERIAL AND METHOD OF USING THE SAME Filed March 5, 1939 ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 25, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DECORATIVE SHEET MATERIAL AND METHOD F USING THE SAME 9 Claims.

This invention relates to decorative sheet material, adapted for the formation therefrom of decorative design elements adapted for assembly upon a suitable background or support, and to methods of using such material.

'lts chief objects are to provide decorative elements that can be easily formed and easily secured in desired positions upon the background or support; to provide design elements or units that can be readily removed from the background or support and without damage to the latter; to provide elements or units readily adapted to afford two-color or multi-color effects, in conjunction with other advantages indicated in this statement of objects; and to provide design ele ments adapted, in conjunction with other advantages, to aiord three-dimensional eects.

l have found that thinly sheeted materials such, for example as the material known com- :cieroially as Plioiilm and described in Calvert Viinited States Patent No. 1,989,632, and the material known commercially as Koroseal and described in Semon United States Patent No. 1,929,- fi53, inherently carry an electric charge which causes pieces cut or torn from 'the sheet to adhere smite strongly to a surface such as that of a wall, ceiling or floor of a room, or a table or the like, Without the use of any adhesive, and to continue se to adhere for a long period of time and even for days, and that this characteristic of such materials can be dependably utilized for producing great variety of temporary and even somewhat permanent decorative eifects, and that by such 1aise all of the advantages indicated in the above statement oi objects can be obtained.

Ii have found that While one part of a decorative unit or element of such material is shaped fiat for adhesion to the supporting surface another part of the same piece, as by heating and pressing, can be given a position out of the plane" oi the flat attachment portion or portions, as by forming the sheet with spaced apart bays or with a succession of series of bays or corrngations'or pleats, so that three-dimensional effects can be provided and so that the sheet or strip can be4 bent in its own plane 'to form various designs and yet be secured firmly to a wall or a ceiling, for example, by the electrical effect in the at attachment portion or portions.

I have found also that sheets of the material can be mounted one upon another with both of them securely held in place by the electrical efiect, so that two-color and multi-color combinations can readily be provided.

I have found also that the strength of the attraction or adhesion can be increased by rubbing the element or elements, after they are in place, with a soft material such as silk or wool, and this apparently produces the desired result not only by forcing the sheet, or its attachment-portion, into more snugly fitting relation to the support, but also by increasing the electrical effect.

As the materials can be made in many colors and have a pleasing-surface finish, very attractive designs can be made of them.

The invention is adapted for many uses, including not only decoration but also advertising purposes, primary education, games of amusement and of skill, and household-bulletin pur poses, as a few examples.

Of the accompanying drawing:

Fig. l is a face view of a sheet of the material having upon it marked outlines of design elements or units.

Fig. 2 is an edge-Wise view of a sheet of the material providing a three-dimensional effect and adapted for bending the sheet, or a strip formed from it, in its own plane.

Fig. 3 is a face View of the sheet shown in Fig. 2, the dotted lines indicating the possibility of mounting one of the strips in a form such that it is bent in its own plane.

Fig. 3A shows a strip similar to `that shown in Fig. 3, in approximately the form of a circle.

Fig. t is a face view of a unit of the material adapted for producing a 'two-color eiect.

Fig. 5 is a iace view of two pieces cf the material assembled to provide a two-color silhouette and adapted to be cut into smaller pieces to provide a jig-saw puzzle.

liig. 6 is a face view of assembled pieces of the material providing a four-color effect.

Fig. 7 is a face view of three pieces of the material adapted to be placed one upon another to provide a United States iiag in proper colors, as in Fig. 8.

ig. 9 is a Face view of letter-shaped pieces of the material adapted for primary educational purposes or for the display of indicia.

So far as applicant knows, no very satisfactory Way has been found as yet for printing cut-out lines on material of this character, and for this reason he prefers to provide the severance lines by means of rows of perforations, but his invention and the appended claims contemplate that more satisfactory procedure for printing lines upon the material may be arrived at.

Referring to the drawing, Fig. 1 represents a sheet of the material I0 marked or perforated as at Il, li for separation of the sheet by cutting or by tearing to provide silhouette figures for decorative purposes, silver stars I2, I2, a yellow crescent moon I3 and a black witch I4 being shown merely as examples.

Figs. 2 and 3 represent a sheet of the material I5 preliminarily formed with ilat attachment zones I5, i5 alternating with transversely corrugated or pleated zones Il, i1 and with parallel longitudinal marked lines or rows of perforations I8, I8 adapting the sheet to be cut or torn into strips each of which, by reason of the corrugated or pleated zones is adapted to be bent in its own plane. so to speak, which makes possible a wide variety o wall designs. For example, one of the strips can be caused to adhere to the wall in approximately the form of a circle, as shown in dotted lines with respect to the lowest strip in Fig. 3A.

In Fig. 4 a two-color eiiect is provided by iirst adhering to the wall a white sheetl I9 and then placing upon it a black sheet 2l) having portions removed so that the white sheet will show through openings left by the portions removed from the black sheet 20.

Fig. 5 shows a sheet in the form of a silhouette of ahuman head with markings for cutting it into a jig-saw puzzle. A sheet 2I of one color can be used for the face portions and a sheet 22 of another color for the hair, for a two color effect, with all of the pieces tting together, nevertheless, as a complete human head.

Possible uses of this type of embodiment of the invention is that a hostess clever with the scissors can have silhouette likenesses of her guests as temporary wall decorations, with humorous or incongruous variations of costume, associated objects or the like; or, in jig-saw puzzle form the pieces can be used for score keeping in connection with or as an adjunct to a game, the picture being so cut that several parts are closely similar so that there is likelihood of a part being incorrectly placed, with a sacrice of the point scored, or with any other suitable penalty; or the piecing together of similar pictures can be made a game in itself, -with accuracy and the time required determining the winner, as some dexterity is required in placing' the pieces accurately, because of their propensity -for jumping into contact with the wall when brought close to it.

Fig. 6 represents a four-color design produced by iirst placing for example a solid white sheet 23, then a cut-out sheet 24 of black having for example a cut-out with the outline 24 of a daisyf and then placing within the outline of the daisy, at its center, a yellow disc ZS-and upon that a smaller black disc 26, and at the middle of each petal a small red stripe element 21. v

Fig. '1 illustrates suitable shaped pieces for building up a United States flag, such as is shown in Fig. 8, by first placing a solid red sheet 28, then upon it a white sheet 29 formed with strip portions 29, 299, for the white strips of the flag, p

joined at the left margin by a web portion 29h of the same sheet, and then, upon the white member, a blue sheet 30 having star-shaped cutouts 30, 30a.

The web portion 29b of the White member bethe white sheet will be in proper relation when applied by progression fromthe web portion 29h toward their free ends.

Fig. 9 illustrates the use of the invention for v educational purposes, suchas the teaching of the aaaaeev alphabet and spelling, and the letters can be conveniently used either alone or in association with pictorial representations such as are illus-l trated in the other figures.

The invention is susceptible ot various further modications without sacrice oi all of the ad- V Slantages set out in the above statement of obects.

In the appended claims the words an overlay design element" are used as meaning an element which is given prominence by reason of contrast, at its outline, with the surface of the support upon which it is overlaid, asin the accompanying drawing, for example, as distinguished from -an element occupying less than substantially the ible sheet material inherently carrying an electric charge alone adapting it to adhere to a support and ,having at least one normally flat attachment zone and at least one zone in which the material forms at leastone bay out of the plane of the attachment zone to adapt the piece to be bent in the plane of the attachment zone.

3. A design element comprising a piece of exible sheet material inherently carrying an electric charge alone adapting it to adhere to a support and having at least one normally fiat attachment zone and at least one zone in which the material is corrugated to adapt the piece to be bent in the plane of the attachment zone.

4. A design assembly comprising two differently colored pieces of sheet material inherently carrying an electric charge alone adapting them to adhere to a support, the sheets Vbeing held in adhering relation one upon the other by the electric rcharge and the outer sheet being shaped to expose a part of the under sheet.

5. The method of providing and displaying a design vwhich comprises forming the design from a piece of sheet-material inherently carrying an electric charge such as alone to cause it to adhere to a support, and causingV it to adhere to a support by reason of the electrical charge alone.

6. 'Ihe method of providing and displaying a design which comprises forming the design from a piece of sheetmaterial inherently carrying an electric charge such as alone to cause it to adhere to a support, causing it to adhere to a support by reason of the electrical charge alone, and thereafter rubbing the piece with a soft, electrifying material;

'1. `The method of providing and displaying a design which comprises forming the design from a piece of sheet material inherently carrying an electric` charge such as alone l,cause it to adhere to a support, causing it to adhere to a support by reason of the electrical charge alone, and so forming and causing to adhere to the rst piece a second piece of another color so shaped as to expose a part of the iirst piece.

8. 'I'he method of providing and displaying a design which comprises forming, of sheet material inherently carrying an electric charge such as alone to cause it to'adhere to a support, a

piece having at least one normally at attachment portion and at least one portion normally out of the plane of the attachment portion, and causing the attachment portion to adhere to a support by reason of the electrical charge alone.

9. The method of providing and displaying a design which comprises forming, of sheet material inherently carrying an electric charge alone adapting it to adhere to a support, a piece shaped with at least one normally flat attachment portion and at least one bay out of the plane of the attachment portion, and causing the piece to adhere to a support by reason of the electrical charge alone, and with the bay distorted so that the adjacent portions of the piece stand in a new angular relation to each other.

JAMES M. W. CHAMBERLAIN. 

